WPP Stewardship Plan

MMSW Approved Program Plan

MMSW will pay up to 75 per cent of municipal program costs to manage the materials its members supply into the residential marketplace. MMSW will not fund costs associated with packaging and paper supplied by exempt and non-compliant stewards, industrial, commercial or institutional waste, non-designated waste, or packaging that is managed by other product management programs.

MMSW will pay municipalities a fixed payment per household served. The actual amount per household for 2016 will be known by November 30 (assuming the program plan is approved by mid-October and launches on January 1, 2016). Payment to municipalities will be net 30 days following each calendar quarter.

MMSW has calculated its payments to ensure it is able to provide payments to all municipalities. As with the original stewardship plan, those municipalities interested in entering into services agreements to receive payment from MMSW will need to register with MMSW and sign service agreements, which will contain terms and conditions, and collector and processor policies. Municipalities signing an agreement prior to the program launch will be eligible for payment as of the program launch. Municipalities signing an agreement after program launch will be eligible for payment beginning the first of the month following the execution of an agreement.

New methodology for calculating municipal funding

The revised stewardship plan sets out a methodology for calculating an amount per household that MMSW will pay municipalities (if the plan is approved). Establishing an amount per household provides greater predictability for municipalities because the payment rate is known in advance and is not dependent on tonnes collected (as was the case with the original plan). The per-household amount will also enable MMSW to ensure it is only paying for the management of its members’ tonnes, and not the tonnes that belong to permanently or temporarily exempted businesses, as well as businesses that are non-compliant (free-riders).

MMSW’s original approach was to apply a 25% non-member factor to municipalities’ reported tonnes, but this factor was based on a best estimate of the amount of packaging and paper supplied by non-members. In fact, the amount of material supplied by exempt businesses and free-riders is impossible to calculate because MMSW does not know who they are and has no way of estimating the tonnes they supply to households. The per-household amount is based on known data and is therefore a more accurate approach.

The municipal funding methodology uses a number of data points:

The quantity of packaging and paper supplied by MMSW members (which is reported by members to MMSW each year);

An assumption that municipalities capture 60% of the waste packaging and paper (WPP) supplied by MMSW members in residential collection systems (new programs typically capture 50% to 55% of available material while mature provincial programs typically capture 60% to 65% of available material); and

$140 per tonne which is the weighted average of the funding rates in the original stewardship plan using the quantity expected to be collected.

The methodology to determine the per-household amount is a five step process as illustrated in the following diagram:

This method of calculating payments to municipalities will be in place during the initial transition phase (established by the MOE’s December 18 announcement) as well as the first two years following the transition phase when newspaper publishers and businesses with revenues between $2M and $5M are reporting and paying fees to MMSW. When these additional stewards are reporting and paying fees to MMSW, the quantity of packaging and paper supplied by MMSW members and therefore the proportion of WPP collected that is paid for by MMSW is expected to increase.

Municipality reporting requirements

Joining the ProgramThe opportunity to sign-up with MMSW remains open. Municipalities, First Nations and Regional Waste Authorities will be eligible for payments beginning the first of the month following the submission of an agreement.

Municipality reporting requirementsLocal Governments or Regional Waste Management authorities who have agreements with MMSW are required to submit quarterly and annual reports to MMSW to receive payment.

Annuallyreport information on:

the number of households receiving curbside and multi-family building collection of WPP

the number of households with access to a depot,

the population of each collection service area

the number of material streams accepted in collection services and at depots

the frequency of collection service and type of set-out container

the location of depots

Quarterly reportinformation on:

the quantity of residential WPP collected from curbside

multi-family buildings and depots by stream

the quantity of residential WPP shipped to recycling end markets by type of paper and packaging and by end-market

the quantity of residential WPP rejected by end markets, including the reason for rejection

Agreements were distributed to Local Governments and Regional Waste Authorities in late October, 2015. Click here to view the Sample Service Agreement.